Recap: Suns use 48 point third quarter to pulverize Mavericks 133-104

Luka who?

Devin Booker (32 points, 9 assists) and DeAndre Ayton (31 points, 9 rebounds) completely dominated the night for the Suns as Phoenix rolled to a 133-104 victory.

The Suns followed suit with many other teams by honoring Kobe Bryant with 8 and 24 second violations in reverence to his jersey numbers. Then the Suns put up some other great numbers.

32 - points by Booker in the game

31 - points by Ayton in the game

11 - straight made field goals by Ayton to start the game

48 - points by the Suns in the third quarter (fourth most in franchise history)

26 - the Suns outscored the Mavericks by that margin in the third period

7,000 - career points for Booker (fourth youngest to that total in NBA history)

20 - wins for the Suns this season (surpassing last season’s total)

59/42/90 - the Suns shooting percentages from the field, three and the free throw line

29 - the Suns margin of victory (tied for a season high)

1 - bag fat L for Luka and the Mavericks

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The Suns jumped out to a 13 point lead in the first quarter motivated by active defense and an engaged DeAndre Ayton. The Suns big man had 12 points in the early going and got counterpart Kristaps Porzingis in quick foul trouble.

The Mavericks were visibly disconcerted with Luka Doncic and coach Rick Carlisle both picking up technical fouls while voicing their displeasure with the officiating.

Devin Booker helped the Suns sustain their early lead with 10 first quarter points of his own. Phoenix led 32-19 after one period. The Suns shot 61.9% from the field and scored 22 points in the paint in the quarter.

Doncic also scored 10 points, but had three turnovers. The Mavericks shot just 30.4% from the field and were stymied by a Suns defense which recorded five steals.

The Mavericks weren’t going away, though, and by midway through the second quarter the 13 point lead had shrunk to four (45-41). The Dallas reserves were mainly responsible for chipping away at the deficit. Justin Jackson and J.J. Barea combined for 10 points during the surge.

Ayton stopped the bleeding, and continued his perfect shooting night, with a couple of buckets to push the advantage back up to eight. Ayton was 8-8 from the field with 18 points in the first half, but picked up his third foul with less than a minute to go before halftime.

The Mavericks offense got going in the second quarter, registering 36 points in the period, but were still just 4-18 from three point range.

Phoenix led 60-55 at the half buoyed by solid play from their starters. In addition to Ayton and Booker combining for 30 points, Ricky Rubio looked more like his usual self with six points and five assists. Kelly Oubre Jr. chipped in nine points and four rebounds, while Mikal Bridges was a linchpin to the team’s early defensive effort.

The Suns starters exploded with an 8-0 run to start the third quarter and quickly pushed the lead to a game high 16 (76-60). Ayton finally missed a shot, but his seven quick points pushed him to 25 on the night on 11-12 shooting before he was forced to sit with four fouls and 8:30 left in the quarter.

But when Ayton went to the bench the Suns managed to kick it into another gear.

The five point halftime lead, that became a 16 point lead when Ayton left the game, was suddenly a 27 point lead (93-66).

Booker scored 20 points for the Suns in the period while they were breaking the game open.

The Suns outscored the Mavericks 48-22 in the third quarter.

48-22.

It was a season high for points in a quarter by the Suns and a season high for a Mavericks opponent. The Suns led 108-77 following the foudroyant display of offensive firepower in the third quarter.

The Suns continued to apply pressure early in the fourth quarter and pushed the lead to as high as 38 points. A few minutes into the period Dallas pulled their starters and waived the white flag.

The Suns followed suite shortly later, subbing out Ayton, Oubre and Rubio with 5:24 left and the Suns leading 126-88.

Ayton finished the night with 31 points and nine rebounds on 13-15 shooting.

Booker finished with 32 points and nine assists while becoming the fourth youngest player in NBA history to score 7,000 points in his career.

Oubre chipped in 19 points and seven rebounds. Bridges contributed 13 points and six assists. Rubio had six points and seven assists. All three were solid in the game.

The Suns finished shooting 59.3% from the field, 42.9% from three point range and 90.5% from the line.

Doncic finished with 21 points and six rebounds for Dallas. Barea led the bench with 15 points and seven assists.

The Suns 48 point third quarter was the highest scoring quarter by the team since they went for 49 against the Miami Heat on December 29th, 1990 and is the team’s fourth highest scoring quarter in franchise history.

Interestingly enough, the 48-22 third quarter wasn’t even the Suns most dominant quarter this season. Back on October 30th the Suns outscored the Golden St. Warriors 43-14 in the first quarter of a 121-110 win.

The 26 point margin marked the 10th time in franchise history the Suns have outscored an opponent by that many points in a quarter in franchise history. Two of the ten happened this season.

133 points was the Suns second highest output this season behind 139 points in an overtime win against the New Orleans Pelicans on December 5th.

The Suns 29 point margin of victory (133-104) matched their season high from opening night against the Sacramento Kings.

The Suns return home to play the Oklahoma City Thunder (28-20) Friday night before embarking on another three game road trip.